A memorial wall honoring Placentia’s four-legged officers has been completed.

“They put their lives on the line just like human officers,” said Jay Jones, 18, who envisioned the memorial. “It only makes sense that they get honored as well.”

Jones, a recent graduate of Esperanza High, landed on the idea while brainstorming projects for earning his Eagle Scout rank with Placentia Councilman Craig Green, who serves as executive officer for Boy Scout Troop 723 in Placentia.

The memorial wall in the Placentia Civic Center Plaza next to the Police Department, has 12 niches where the ashes of police dogs who have died can be entombed.

On Saturday, Jones and his volunteers spent more than eight hours installing bronze plaques for each of the department’s five dogs who have died: Nanto, Marko, Jack, Castor and Storm.

Capt. Eric Point placed cedar boxes with the ashes of his two former partners, Jack and Castor, in the niches.

“It was a good feeling,” he said. “All of these dogs served with distinction and they sacrificed their lives essentially to serve and protect, not only the handlers, but the other officers as well as the community.”

Placentia’s K-9 unit formed in 1988. Since its inception, there have been 10 police dogs who have sniffed out criminal offenders, illegal drugs and other concealed contraband.

Past members of the unit include three German shepherds, Nanto, Marko and Jack; three Belgian Malinois, Castor, Storm and Falkon; and Buddy, a black Labrador.

Currently, Habo, a German shepherd, and Ace, a Belgian Malinois, are assigned to patrol duties. Kyra, a Belgian Malinois, helps with narcotics detection.

Jones, who earned his Eagle Scout rank Dec. 21, raised more than $6,000 through a GoFundMe campaign and private donations to build the wall and buy the bronze plaques. He and volunteers spent more than 500 hours planning and building the wall.

The memorial wall has been covered; it will be unveiled during a ceremony in August.

Denisse Salazar covers the cities of Placentia and Yorba Linda for the Orange County Register. Over the years, she has also covered crime, courts, human trafficking and breaking news, such as team coverage of Orange County’s worst mass killing, which won first place in online breaking news from the California Newspaper Publishers Association (2011). Salazar has won awards from the Orange County Press Club. She graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a bachelor's degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism and a minor in Spanish. She earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from USC.

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